http://www.cookiemadness.net/2012/05/marshmallow-and-rice-krispies-topped-brownies/Smiteme*This is my guide to fourth of July snacks. Overall objective: After this presentation, the members in the audience will be able to make both muddy buddies and marshmallow and rice krispie topped brownies for their fourth of July party.
*The first snack that I am going to explain how to make is muddy buddies. Muddy buddies are a great finger food and are therefore perfect for putting out on the table at a fourth of July party for your friends and family to snack on throughout the night.**Learning objective: After this portion of the presentation, members of the audience will be able to make muddy buddies to perfection.
The table to the left includes the ingredients that are included in the typical recipe of muddy buddies. However, adjustments can be made to fit your liking.*You can use any type of chex (rice, corn, etc) that you want. However, it tastes best with rice chex. I have made it once before with corn chex and it seems to taste a bit more dry. If you are looking to save money, I would suggest buying the store brand of rice chex because it is cheaper and tastes the same as the brand name.*The original recipe calls for semisweet chocolate chips, which I personally prefer but if you are a dark chocolate fan you can of course supplement them with dark chocolate chips. I would once again recommend buying the store name brand because it is cheaper and still tastes just as good.*The recipe does not call for a specific brand of peanut butter. Most people have a preference for which peanut butter they like best so you can use whichever you prefer. I normally use Skippy or Jeff. I have never used a store brand peanut butter so I am not sure how that would taste, but as I said before, the store brands tend to work just fine. However, I would suggest to stay away from organic peanut butter because it tends to make the snack taste dry.*Butter or margarine is part of the original recipe, but in order to make it a bit more healthy, I normally choose not to include it or I just use a lesser amount of it. Although, I have made it with butter many times before and it tastes the same either way.*Vanilla is one ingredient that does tend to make the snack taste slightly different. I again, have made it with and without and after the first time of not using vanilla, I concluded that I like it much better without it. However, it is entirely up to the maker. While I have a preference, it tastes great either way.*Powdered sugar is an essential ingredient because without it, all of the chex pieces stick together and instead of having finger food for all of your guests, you end up with a massive chunk for one guest. Any brand or off-brand of powdered sugar works perfectly fine.**Keep in mind that the amounts listed are enough for 18 people to each have a half of a cup. If you want to make more you can always double, triple, etc. the recipe. In my experience in making muddy buddies, people tend to eat a lot more than a half of a cup individually so it would be smart to make more than the recipe calls for if you are having a lot of guests over.
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**Tip- If you are a huge peanut butter fan, adding more peanut butter only makes it taste even better**Tip- Adding a little bit more chocolate chips than the recipe calls for creates small clumps of chex that are filled with chocolate which are delicious*The first thing that you need to do is put the ½ cup of peanut butter into a glass bowl that is microwaveable. *Then add the 1 cup of chocolate chips to the glass bowl that has the peanut butter in it.*If you end up deciding to use butter then you need to add the ¼ cup, or however much you choose to use, to the bowl as well.*If you end up deciding to use vanilla, add the 1 teaspoon to the bowl.*Once all of those ingredients are combined put the bowl in the microwave and cook for 30-45 seconds or until the chocolate chips are melted and then stir the mix.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teaspoon_%26_tablespoon.jpg
**Tip- I would suggest putting the mix in one ziploc bag and then putting another bag over it so that the bottom of the second bag is covering the sealed part of the first bag. This is to ensure that the mix will not fly out of the bag if it comes unsealed while shaking it. This has happened to me in the past and it makes a mess and wastes a portion of your snack.**Tip- I tend to add more powdered sugar than the recipe calls because it makes it even tastier.*Measure out 4 ½ cups of chex and put it into the gallon size ziploc bag.*Then pour about half of the melted mix into the ziploc bag of chex.*Measure out another 4 ½ cups of chex and pur them into the ziploc bag.*Then continue to pour the rest of the melted mix into the ziploc bag. Doing it in halves helps to ensure that the mixture will be spread out evenly over the chex.*Make sure you carefully seal the bag so that when you shake it, it stays shut. Shake until all of the chex are coated.*Then measure our 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar and pour it into the ziploc bag. Reseal the bag and shake again until all of the chex are covered.
Your muddy buddies are almost ready. However, they taste much better when they are cold. Before putting them in the refrigerator or freezer you should pour the mix into a bowl so that it is ready to be served once chilled. While any bowl will do the job, I would suggest using a metal bowl because it tends to allow the snack to get colder faster. If you do not have a lot of time in between preparing the snack and serving the snack then I would suggest putting the snack in the freezer. However, if there is going to be a long delay in between preparing and serving, I suggest putting it in the fridge because if you leave it in the freezer for too long it becomes dried out. There is not a specified time for chilling it so you can take it out whenever you think it is cold enough and ready to be served.http://www.kombuchakamp.com/what-is-kombucha/kombucha-mushroom-tea-brewing-safety-tips/best-brewing-vessel-for-kombucha
The next snack that I am going to explain how to make is Marshmallow and Rice Krispie topped brownies. Every 4th of July party has to have brownies but these brownies go above and beyond taste amazing!*Learning objects: After this portion of the presentation, members of the audience will be able to make marshmallow and rice krispie topped brownies to perfection.
*The table in the left includes all of the ingredients that you need for making marshmallow and rice krispie topped brownies.*It is easiest just to buy a boxed brownie mix from the store. However, you of course can choose to make homemade brownies. For the purpose of showing you all how to make these I am going to just infer that you all will use a boxed brownie mix.*While you can supplement mini marshmallows with large ones, it is easiest to use mini ones.*You can use whichever peanut butter you prefer but definitely make sure to use creamy.*I prefer semisweet chocolate chips but you can of course use dark chocolate chips instead.*While you can probably once again get away with not using butter, for this recipe it definitely tastes better with butter.*As for the eggs, water and vegetable oil, the amount depends on what type of brownie mix you choose to get. Some might not even require all three of these ingredients so it is best to check the back of the box that you choose to use before gathering all of the ingredients.
*The first thing that you have to do is make the brownies and the directions for that will depend on which mix you choose to use so follow the directions on the back of the box and make sure that you spray the pan with pam so that the brownies do not stick.*Once the brownies are baked, take them out of the oven and pour the 2 cups of mini marshmallows evenly over the brownies*Then you need to put the brownies with the marshmallows on them back into the oven on the same heat and bake for an additional two minutes to allow the marshmallows to melt over the top of the brownieshttp://www.yumsandloves.com/2012/07/marshmallow-and-rice-krispie-topped.html
*Then it will time to prepare the topping for the brownies*The first thing that you need to do is to melt the 8 tablespoons of butter on medium heat in a saucepan on the stove*Once the butter is melted reduce the heat to low and add 2/3 cup of chocolate chips to the butter and stir until the chocolate chips are melted*Then add 1 cup of rice krispies to the saucepan and mix until they are completely coated*Once the mix is stirred completely, pour it evenly over the top of the marshmallowshttp://www.yumsandloves.com/2012/07/marshmallow-and-rice-krispie-topped.html
*The last thing that you have to do is put the brownies in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the topping can set. While you can choose to put it in the freezer, that tends to dry out the actual brownies so I would suggest allowing yourself enough time before the party to make these so that you can put them in the refrigerator. Once they are chilled and the topping is hardened, they are ready to serve!Now you know how to make two great deserts that everyone will enjoy for your next 4th of July party!
